North America Distribution

Facts About

Appalachian gooseberry is a native species of rich, rocky woodlands. It resembles Missouri gooseberry, another currant that grows on rich soils, but its prickles are shorter, and its greenish-yellow flowers are smaller, with a green-purple (as opposed to white) hypanthium. The flowers, blooming in April and May, are visited by bees and hummingbirds, and its fruits are eaten by a variety of birds and mammals.

Habitat

Forests, talus and rocky slopes

Characteristics

Habitat

terrestrial

New England state

Connecticut

Massachusetts

Growth form

the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

Leaf type

the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

Leaves per node

there is one leaf per node along the stem

Leaf blade edges

the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes

Leaf duration

the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

armature on plant

the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns

Leaf blade length

15–50 mm

Leaf blade width

20–50 mm

Leaf stalk

the leaves have leaf stalks

Fruit type (general)

the fruit is fleshy

Bark texture

the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

the bark of an adult plant peels off easily or hangs off

Twig winter color

brown

gray

purple

red

Bud scale number

there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed